Zimbabwe's MDC court bid blocked

[Steve Gardner]

I know this is 'old' news now, but clearly there's trouble brewing in Zimbabwe.

I always figured Mugabe would die in office. He certainly will not go without one almighty fight and I'm actualy surprised there's talk of a run-off. I just assumed Mugabe would have had the polling data fixed in his favour to avoid such a possibility.

Source: BBC

Armed police in Zimbabwe have prevented lawyers from the opposition MDC from entering a court to file a petition on the country's presidential elections.

Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the police had threatened to shoot them.

The MDC wants the court to force officials to release the result of last Saturday's poll. It says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the ballot.

His opponent President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has said it will back him if a run-off is called.

Mr Muchadehama told AFP news agency the party was doing "everything in our powers" to have its petition heard on Saturday at Harare High Court.

The MDC has also called for international help to prevent possible violence if a second round is held.

But speaking in the UK, South African President Thabo Mbeki said that now was not the time to interfere, and the international community should wait to find out the outcome of the election.

Divided party

On Friday, Zanu-PF leaders backed Mr Mugabe's participation in a possible run-off.

There had been speculation he would stand aside rather than face a second poll.

Correspondents say there are fears a second round - which would be expected to take place within three weeks - could lead to a resurgence of the violence and intimidation that has been a characteristic of past elections in Zimbabwe.

Announcing the legal challenge, another MDC spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, said the delay in reporting the result was unjustified.

"We're fighting the anxiety, disappointment, speculation and rumours as a result of this delay," he said.

Mr Chamisa said the ruling party would attempt to use a run-off as a way to exact revenge, and called for immediate international help.

"For Mugabe, a run-off is a strategy for retribution," he said.

"He was beaten at the referendum in 2000 and we all know the violence which followed.

"This is what we want to avoid, rather than have the international community intervene after there has been bloodshed."

Zanu-PF said it would call for recounts for 16 seats in the parliamentary elections.

If successfully contested, these would be enough for the party to regain the majority it lost for the first time since 1980.

The MDC says its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, took 50.3% of the vote, just over the 50% needed to avoid a run-off.

An independent projection says Mr Tsvangirai gained 49%, just below the threshold, with Mr Mugabe on 42%.

'Provocation'

On Friday, hundreds of Zanu-PF supporters - some of them veterans from the war against white rule that led to independence - marched through the capital, Harare, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Jabulani Sibanda, head of the Zimbabwe War Veterans' Association, which has been associated with past election violence, said Zanu-PF had lost the elections because "people were pushed by hunger and illegal sanctions".

"Under current circumstances the spirit of our people is being provoked," he said.

"We will be forced to defend our sovereignty."

Western countries imposed sanctions following allegations that Mr Mugabe rigged the polls in 2002.

The sanctions are targeted at Mr Mugabe and his close associates - they are subject to a travel ban and an assets freeze in the European Union and the US.

Mr Mugabe, 84, came to power 28 years ago at independence on a wave of optimism.

But in recent years Zimbabwe has been plagued by the world's highest inflation, as well as acute food and fuel shortages, which correspondents say have driven many voters to back the opposition.

The ruling party remains divided, the BBC's Peter Biles says, with many who would still like to see a change of leadership, believing that under Mr Mugabe, Zimbabwe has no future.

So far, 10 of the 60 Senate results have been officially announced, with each party taking five seats.

In the lower house of parliament, the MDC took 99 seats, while Zanu-PF won 97.

A smaller MDC faction, which backed former Mugabe loyalist Simba Makoni in the presidential election, won 10 seats, leaving them with a potentially influential role.

However, Zanu-PF gained 46% of the vote in the parliamentary race, against 43% for the MDC, which supporters of Mr Mugabe say gives him hope of victory in a run-off.

[Steve Gardner]

Things are double grim in Zimbabwe in the run-up to the election run-off, with Mugabe clearly prepared to do anything to cling to office.

How can the international community continue to recognise this man as President if - or, should I say, when - he claims victory?

Source: BBC

The head of an African observer mission in Zimbabwe has warned that he will not endorse next week's run-off if current levels of violence continue.

Marwick Khumalo told the BBC his team had received horrendous reports of attacks and the political environment was not conducive to a free poll.

Meanwhile, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has called on President Robert Mugabe to step down from office.

He said the vote had already been rigged and Zimbabwe was "an eyesore".

Mr Mugabe has been waging a fierce campaign to extend his 28-year rule after getting fewer votes than the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the first-round of the presidential election in March.

Meanwhile, South African President Thabo Mbeki is going to Zimbabwe on Wednesday to discuss the elections with President Mugabe.

Mr Mbeki has been leading regional mediation efforts to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe.

There has been growing international concern that political violence will make a free and fair vote impossible.

African leaders have generally been reluctant to criticise Mr Mugabe, still seeing him as a hero of the fight against colonialism but there are signs that is starting to change.

'Spoiling'

The recently elected opposition Harare Mayor Emmanuel Chiroto said he fears his kidnapped wife may have been killed after an attack on his home on Monday night.

"The maid escaped out the back and heard two bangs. I think it was petrol bombs. The house went up in flames and they took my wife and son. My wife was screaming," Mr Chiroto told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

He said that his son was later dropped off at a police station but his wife has not been seen since.

Mr Khumalo, head of the Pan-African Parliamentary observers, said it was the government's responsibility to stop the violence which erupted after the first round.

"It's very difficult to me to judge the degree of the violence in terms of whether it's decreased or it has escalated," Mr Khumalo told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"But what is disturbing is that in a situation such as an election atmosphere... violence is one thing that you don't want to see happening, because it has the capacity of spoiling an election."

Mr Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it is now being forced to run its election campaign in conditions of virtual secrecy.

The MDC says at least 66 of its supporters have been killed and some 25,000 driven from their homes.

But ruling Zanu-PF spokesman Patrick Chinamasa blamed the violence on the MDC.

"The reality here is that that violence is by MDC against Zanu-PF members and the targets are war veterans and, also, supporters of Zanu-PF who are in Zanu-PF's political strongholds," Mr Chinamasa told the BBC.

"A lot of the violence is committed by thugs who are bussed from urban areas, such as Harare, and they go during the night to target our people, to burn their houses."

On Tuesday, Zimbabwe's main opposition party lost a legal bid for its Secretary General Tendai Biti to be freed from custody.

Mr Biti was arrested on his return from South Africa last week and is expected to face a treason charge.

[Steve Gardner]

I suppose it's no great surprise that Tsvangirai pulled out. Interestingly, Mugabe plans to go ahead with the run-off anyway - I guess he hopes to try to give his retention of power some legitimacy by arguing that 'due process' was followed.

Commentators in The Independent were split this morning on whether Tsvangirai was right to withdraw. One argued that it was better to participae in a flawed election process than to not participate at all.

Anyone agree with this?

I can understand doing everything possible to try to ensure the electoral process will be proper (even if that meant lost lives, as cold as that may sound), but I'm not so sure there's much point in participating in an election you 'know' will be rigged whatever the 'real' vote.

Source and full article: BBC

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare.

A Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said Mr Tsvangirai had spent the night at the embassy as he feared for his safety but had not requested asylum.

On Sunday, he announced he was withdrawing from the 27 June presidential elections in the face of violence from ruling party militias.

Zimbabwean officials have said a run-off election will still go ahead.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Mr Tsvangirai's withdrawal announcement was a ruse as he had not sent a formal notice yet.